Salt and Light
Pro-Life Club
The Salt and Light Club had its final meeting of the year on May 14. We welcomed interested 5th graders, recognized the 8th grade leaders, and had fun playing games and eating snacks. Stay tuned for a summer movie night at Gabriel House!
Our April meeting was quite enjoyable! We had fun playing "Head, shoulders, knees, cup" and then we decorated Mother's Day cards for women being served at local pregnancy resource centers. These will go in the gift bags made by the parish Pro-life committee.
We had a beautiful day to march with hundreds of St. Louisans in support of life-affirming programs in Missouri.
We had a lot of fun at our March meeting! First, snacks (mmm! Thanks Snodgrasses!). Then, blindfolded Pictionary. Then, "Baby Item Price is Right" with a rep from Our Lady's Inn, who shared with us the challenges single moms face and the importance of our prayers for them and presence to them.
Ten members of the Salt and Light Club spent part of their day off school visiting seniors at St. Agnes Home in Kirkwood. They delivered the crosses we made and then enjoyed some rounds of Bingo. Thanks to the parents who chaperoned the students, Mr. Nowak, Mrs. Wolf, and Mrs. Lake!
At our meeting on Feb. 13, we played Family Feud and made crosses for the residents at St. Agnes Home. We look forward to visiting them on Feb. 19 and playing Bingo!
Our first Movie Night was quite a success! Over 25 students joined us at Gabriel House for "Breakthrough."
Our January meeting was a blast! We played a fun round of charades, Fr. Molini blessed those who were headed to the March for Life, and then we decorated cupcakes. The following day we handed the cupcakes out at the Middle School lunch period for National Cupcake Day to remind the students that EVERYONE deserves a birthday.
We have a lot of pictures from this meeting and lunch, so they are in a slide carousel. Enjoy!
The March for Life was Jan. 19. Some members of the 8th grade class (a few of whom are club members) were blessed to attend this event. We march in support of women who face difficult choices and to promote programs that will support them and their children.
We were happy to host Nicole Hollman from Students for Life at our December meeting. We learned about how to speak with love to those who challenge our pro-life values. We also enjoyed a fun game of "Friendly Feud" from our games girls. Thanks to the Hausmanns for supplying us with snacks!
We are off school on Dec. 8 because it is the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a holy day of obligation. Not just ANY holy day, it is our NATIONAL FEAST DAY---the United States' patron saint is Mary, the Immaculate Conception. In honor of this, Catholics unite in prayer for our country that evening.
St Gabriel the Archangel participates in this event by having prayers after the 6 p.m. Mass on Dec. 8. This would be a great way to fulfill your holy day obligation without having to get up early. Come to Mass at 6 p.m. and stay to pray for the sanctity of all life in our country!
Fr. Ritter (Fritter) came over on Monday, Nov. 27, to pray for the kids at Marygrove who will receive these blankets. Then he sprinkled some holy water. Many blessings on all of those at Marygrove, and may our small act of charity move their hearts closer to the source of all charity!
God bless all those at Marygrove, may these blankets remind them of God's love and care for them.
Let's hope no one got hurt by the holy water!
Check out the article in the St. Louis Review about the Salt and Light Club!
Click the image to the left.
Blanket fun at our November meeting!
Jackie from Marygrove came to our meeting and taught us all about the services that the organization provides to children ages 10-17 who do not have homes and are not part of the regular Foster Care system. After hearing about what they do and who they help, the members of the Salt and Light Club worked together to make cozy fleece blankets for the kids in need.
Mrs.Slama will host additional blanket-making sessions in her room this week! Join us at lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 14-15, and after school on Thursday, Nov. 16.
At the October meeting, we announced our new leadership!
Congratulations to our new president, Elise; our new VP, Maryann; our new chaplain, Owen; our returning communications secretary, Emma; our new PR director, Owen 2; and our games coordinator, Sarah, with her sidekick, Maria. We know all of them will do a great job moving our group forward for life!!
After our snack and game, we went outside and spread positivity through these great pro-life messages. Enjoy the slides on the right.
Our next meeting is Nov. 7. A representative from Marygrove will speak and we will make blankets.
It was a lot of fun getting together the night before the parade to inflate balloons for the parish's Pro-Life Committee. Pizza, snacks, and helium make for a fun time! Thanks to all who helped!
We have a great group of poster-making ladies helping us get ready for the parish picnic. We have enjoyed our long lunches making signs for the parade and for the Pro-Life Committee's booth/baby station at our parish picnic to be held on Oct. 7. We hope to see you there!
Our first meeting of the 2023-24 school year was on Sept. 19. We were so happy to welcome a number of new students! Anyone can come to our meetings. The next one is on Oct. 17. We will start with a snack and game in 8S, followed by voting for officers then going out to draw chalk messages around the St. Gabriel campus.
Enjoy the pictures from last year's events until we are able to document this year's great activities.
On April 21, the Pro-Life Club was able to get a tour of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis from St. Gabriel parishioner, Claudia Wright. It was a beautiful experience!
On April 27, the PLC met to make cards for the moms served by Birthright and Our Lady's Inn. They will be added to gift bags to be given out for Mother's Day. The bags are provided by the St. Gabriel parish Pro-Life Committee.
Two great speakers!
The Pro-Life Club was happy to welcome two speakers to our most recent meetings. On Feb. 23 we welcomed Nick Johnson from the Vitae Foundation, who talked about research that helps pro-life organizations maximize their social media presence and reach important audiences. On March 7, Claudia Wright, a St. Gabriel parishioner, helped us learn about immigration and what it is like for people who are fleeing various countries. Thanks to both speakers for helping us to learn more about ways to stand up for life!
Our next meeting will be on Thursday, March 23 in 8S.
The Generation Life Conference was Jan. 20!
Six 8th graders went to the first Generation Life event at Chaifetz Arena on Jan. 20. We heard from some very powerful speakers, sang songs, celebrated Mass with THREE bishops, and visited the booths of pro-life organizations and religious orders. The students will be sharing their experience at the next pro-life club meeting on Jan. 26.
T-shirts are in! We can wear them on Fridays and on meeting days. Our next meeting is Thursday, Dec. 13. At our Dec. 1 meeting, we accepted nominations for offices in the club. We will vote on Dec. 13 and make crafts for a senior living facility.
We had our 3rd official Pro-Life Club meeting on Nov. 8
We enjoyed snacks courtesy of the Lake family, we played a puzzle game courtesy of Sarah Henderson (the girls won Skittles), and we heard from our guest speaker, Stephanie from Good Shepherd.
After learning about the foster care services they provide, among many other services, we helped her load all the care bags into her car.
At the suggestion of the students, we have decided to have meetings
TWICE A MONTH!
We will have one meeting on Tuesday and one on Thursday.
Our next meeting will be on Thursday, Dec. 1. We plan to decide on the leadership roles in the club and make decorations for the residents at a senior care facility.
Our other December meeting will be on Tuesday, Dec. 13, where we will vote on the club leaders and possibly help sort and move Giving Tree items.
Some members of the Pro-Life Club met after school on Friday, Nov. 3 to fill care bags for children served by Good Shepherd's Foster Care programs. We were able to put items in 55 bags, thanks to the generosity of club members.
We will give the bags to a representative from Good Shepherd at our next meeting on Nov. 8.
The second Pro-Life Club meeting was Oct. 11. The students enjoyed an interactive tic-tac-toe game and learned about the reason October is the month of the Rosary. We planned a collection to help Good Shepherd foster care services get supplies for their foster children after losing a lot in the summer's flooding. We will collect monetary donations through Oct. 28 (send them to Mrs. Slama's room), and then a group will go shopping for items to fill care bags. We voted on t-shirt colors and an order form will be in the weekly newsletter from Mrs. McEnery.
Our next Club meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 8 All are welcome! If your son or daughter is interested in this club, have them contact Mrs. Slama to be added to the Google Classroom for the club, where they can see upcoming events.
Some pictures from our first club meeting in September.
Upcoming service opportunities:
Anyone is welcome to contribute to our collection of money for Good Shepherd Services. We will collect money until Oct. 28 and then use the funds to purchase items for the care bags for foster kids.
We will be supporting the parish Advent Giving Tree in December. We will ask for volunteers to help Mrs. Parada with transporting items to Gabriel House and sorting them.
This year's convention is Oct. 15th. You can use this link to get to the Respect Life Apostolate's website to register for the event.